Kenya - Part 1

Ok, so I know this is only 2 pics, but I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to give you all a little something.

These 2 are of me flying in a C-130 to Kenya. No, it was NOT comfortable, yes, the flight was long, and YES, it was loud!

BACKDATED - Camp McCrady

Here are some more pics from Camp McCrady.

Here's me waiting on the firing range to shoot.

Here's a few shots of all of us waiting around to shoot (very boring).

This is the range for the big guns, like the .50 cal automatic machine gun, the M240 SAW automatic machine gun, etc. I shot at the tanks out there with the .50 cal, that was pretty sweet.

Here's me getting into the prone position with the M240 SAW. Note that glorious pine needle only found in the south, lol.

I'll keep them coming!

ps - I have finally gone through and weeded out al the not-so-good shot from Kenya. All that's left is to resize for the web. Standby!

EXW Pinning Ceremony

Here's some shots of me getting pined by a 1 star admiral. This is for me qualifying for the Expeditionary Warfare qual (EXW), which means that I have the knowledge & know-how to setup an expeditionary camp from start to finish, from picking location, to processing sewage & making potable water, to security & cover & concealment. There is much more involved, however I won't get into the nitty-gritty.

ps - Note the sweat?

BACKDATED - Camp McCrady

Here are some more pics from Camp McCrady at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. Here's a shot of me in my "full battle-rattle" which is a nickname the Army uses for all of your gear (IBA, elbow/knee pads, Kevlar helmet, Camelbak, etc.)

Another Action shot of me slowly getting geared up.

These I took towards the end of the first week, before I realized what wearing this gear was going to do to me.

That's all for now, hope you like them.

BACKDATED - Camp McCrady

Ok, so I know I've been slippin' on the photos, I apologize. Please understand that my upload capability is 1-4 kbps, yes, 10+ times slower than dial-up. Therefore, I get frustrated that I can't get the ones I want out to you all because I take so many.

None-the-less, below are five more pics from when I was in Columbia, South Carolina. This is where we went through combat training taught by the Army. Some of the things we did were fun, but it was RIDICULOUSLY hot there, and solidified my reasoning for not moving to the south in a few years.

This is a picture of I think the second or third day, where we got to stand outside and wait, then we waited some more, and after that, we got to wait, just before waiting, and then go to go get our gear (i.e. gloves, body armor, helmet, tactical googles, Gerber, etc.)

Here's a pic of me putting on my body armor after firing the M-16 from the prone position (that's laying down). This was performed at least 9 times a day, constantly taking off & putting on the gear, mostly to get us accustomed to wearing it, and removing it or donning (putting it on) expeditiously if the need arise. By the way, the gear is 60+ lbs.

This machine here was kinda cool, until it was my turn to get inside. It's basically the cab of a humvee on a rotisserie, and we get inside, wearing all of our gear, and the rotate it to the angle that a humvee can remain driving, then the second angle it the critical angle at which you need to prepare yourself for a rollover, and then the flip it upside down. Once inverted, you have to use one hand on the ceiling to support your wait while you unbuckle your seatbelt so you can escape. LESSON LEARNED: if you do not tuck your chin inside your IBA (60 lb. body armor), when you release the seat belt, it will immediately fall on your throat and choke you. Yes, this happened to me, TWICE. We had to go through both as a passenger in the back, and either the driver or navigator. The two seats up front were the worst, because there is much less room, and therefore harder to get in, let alone out. So, like I said, I had to escape while being choked out by my IBA, figure out where the door lock was, open it, and somehow finagle myself out of the cab. When I was getting choked out, I started to panic, but told myself, if you can't breathe, you can't speak, and so it's up to you & only you to get yourself out, and then I was able to make it happen. Of course there were safety observers outside the cab for those who couldn't handle the pressure.

This is a passenger transport that is used in combat, bulletproof, heavy duty, etc. It pretty much speaks for itself. I believe it can carry 14 passengers, but don't quote me on that.

And here's me "driving" the carrier.

Now I can sleep tonight knowing that I have finally posted some new pics. I will make a better effort to post more, as I have a slew of pics to do with.

Djibouti Pics

As promised, below are several pics that I took of the city of Djibouti & shopping areas. It's pretty obvious that this place is quite poor, and so it may not be exactly what you expect. I wanted to write a little blurb about each pic, but I could only narrow them down to 95, and because Blogger only allows 5 pics per post, I have put all of them on my MobileMe Gallery. It's pretty cool because once you click the link below, it will take you to all the pics. At the bottom left of the page, you have 4 different viewing options (the second one I like the best), so feel free to play around with the site to suit your viewing pleasure. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and ask.

MobileMe Gallery

Of Course ......

Well, as expected, my paternity leave chit was denied. I will not be able to be there for the birth of my first child. Not really much more to say here, other than why do people still wonder why I want to get out of the military?